Ella's Secret
by whiteknightgirl
Summary: Everyone has a secret. Everyone has worries. Everyone has regrets. But me? I have more than you can count. I'm more than what anyone has ever thought I was. I guess I got really goo at acting, because they never saw it coming." DISCONTINUED
1. The beggining

Prologue

Ella

Everyone has a secret. Everyone has worries. Everyone has regrets. But me? I have more than you can count. I'm more than what anyone has ever thought I was.

No, I'm not just Maximum Ride's helpless little sister. I guess I got really good at acting.

Because they never saw it coming.

Iggy

"Ella! Are you coming?" I called upstairs.

"Just a minute!" She called back.

I had finally gotten the guts to ask her out on a date and she actually said yes! I couldn't believe it. We were going to Chantal's Ice Cream Shop right down the street from here. They were hosting a party for the community.

Seconds later Ella bounded down the stairs sounding as bubbly as ever. I touched her face and her lips were turned up in a smile. I smiled.

"You ready?" I asked.

"Yes, what about you?" She giggled.

"I've been ready! You were the one putting on make up!" I joked.

"For you!" She pretended to be cross.

"For a blind guy." I teased.

"So?" I could tell she was rolling her eyes. I mean she's related to Max isn't she?

I laughed. "Let's go." I bent my head down a kissed her cheek. She was smiling radiantly.

We arrived at the ice cream shop a quarter to nine. I bought her a large ice cream Sunday and myself five ice cream Sundays.

"You sure do eat a lot, don't you?" She asked, a curious tone to her voice, and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"Yep. I have too."

"I'm still hungry." She said getting up and pulling out her wallet. I stopped her and traded wallets with her. "I'll pay." I smiled.

"Ok…" She said as she walked back up to the front.

When she came back I asked, "What did you get?"

"I got four ice cream Sundays." She said happily.

"Four?" I asked, startled. "That's more than you usually eat…."

"I'm hungry tonight." She explained, her voice sounded honey coated.

After a few minutes, they were gone. "Wow…. You ate fast too…" I was a bit confused.

"MmHmm…. Want to dance?" She asked quickly taking my mind off of her strange eating behavior.

"Sure." I answered.

By ten O'clock, we were beat. "Ready to go?" I asked.

She yawned. "Yep."

"Good." I said, walking her back out to the car. This had been a fun night. One of the reasons I asked Ella out was because she's full of surprises. It's always like she's hiding something big……

Ella's POV

I loved going to parties with Ig, I honestly do, but sometimes it makes me to jump. It's almost like somehow, he can see right through my mask. It scares me that he can do that. No one else can. Not Max. Not Fang. Not even Mom. Only him.

"Good night Ig." I said, kissing him lightly on the lips.

"'Night Ells." He replied.

I giggled-nervously- as I ran upstairs into my bedroom. Once there, I flopped down on my bed and pulled my headphones over my ears. My favorite song came on right away.

_Do you dream that the world will know your name_

_So tell me your name_

_Do you care, about all the little things_

_Or anything at all_

_I want to feel, all the chemicals inside_

_I want to feel_

_I want a sunburn, just to know I'm alive_

_To know I'm alive_

I wish I could tell them. I wish I could tell them everything, but only sometimes, just so they would know that I'm not helpless.

_Don't tell if I'm dying_

_Cause I don't want to know_

_if I can't feel the sun_

_Maybe I should go_

_Don't wake me cause I'm dreaming_

_Of angels on the moon_

_Where everyone you know_

_Never leaves to soon_

I wish I could forget about everything that I've been doing. It was so wrong, but at the same time, it felt right. I thought about that as I switched off my I-pod.

I hate them. I really do. At least I should… no I do. I do! I do hate them! I have to….

Max's POV

I walked down the hall slowly. I was dead tried as I was after every party I go to with Fang. I stopped as I heard Ella blasting her music through the speakers on her headphones. I shook my head. One of these days she's going to go deaf, I swear.

The music stopped abruptly, as it always does when I pass by. I'm starting to think she might have super sonic hearing or something like that, because the music only ever stops when I walk down the hallway.

I blew it off casually as I went to tuck Angel in for bed, and go say good night to Nudge and The Gasman.

"Hey, sweetie." I greeted coming in through her door.

"Hi Max. Ella thinks weird thoughts."

"What kind of weird thoughts?" I asked curiously.

"Well, when I can even hear her think that is. See sometimes, I can't hear anything from her at all, but when I can, it's always stuff like, 'If only I could.' Or, 'I really do! I know I do!'"

I was confused. Ella was able to block her thoughts from Angel when she wanted to? How did she do that? And why would she think stuff like that? All those unfinished thought…

"Hmm, well just forget about it sweetie." I said tucking her in.

I thought hard about it as I said good night to Nudge and The Gasman. I laid down on my bed and thought a few unfinished thoughts myself.

"Max?"

Fang.

"Yeah?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing much." I said vaguely.

"You look like you're thinking pretty hard though. What's it about?" He pressed. He knew me to well.

"Ask Angel tomorrow morning." I answered, not wanting to think anymore about the subject of Ella's thoughts.

"Ok.." Fang said uncertainly as I drifted off to sleep.


	2. Run

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Ella's POV

I woke up to sunlight streaming through my window. I squeezed my eyes shut again; willing myself to go back to sleep, but it was hopeless. I couldn't do it. I groaned as I thought about what I had to do today.

It was a normal, average, everyday Sunday. Ha, if you're normal that is. I got dressed quickly and crept downstairs quietly, not caring if anyone was awake or not. I was being a bit cautious due to the fact that the telepath had broken through my mental barrier last night.

I walked into the kitchen and froze as I looked up to see…

"Iggy?"

"Ells, you're up? I was just getting ready to make breakfast, want to help?" He asked, sincerely. I felt my heart ache for a second, then stutter back to normal faster than my longing did.

"Sure Ig." I said, smiling. He frowned at me for a millisecond, then motioned me over beside him.

How did he manage to see through my mask? He was blind for Christ's sake! I was going to have to learn to control the emotion in my voice soon before he figured everything out.

He started showing me how to scramble eggs. I let my mind wander off until I felt his finger tap my nose. I felt something wet and gooey touch it as well. iRaw egg/i.

I felt my chin drop. "Hey!" I said, pretending to be outraged.

He grinned and I felt my heart skip a beat. "You weren't paying attention!" He laughed at me.

"Well…" I said before pouring the whole bowl of yokes on his head.

I saw his eyes bug out, and laughed loudly. He blinked and before I knew it, I was covered in flour.

My mouth popped open again. By the time we were done with our food fight, we were covered in everything imaginable.

"Some breakfast this is." I joked, wiping milk out of my eyes.

"Yeah, good thing I won." He replied, brushing the sugar off his shirt.

"Right.." I said, getting ready to think of a good quip, but I was suddenly frozen when he started gently brushing the flour out of my hair.

He smiled and this time, I thought I felt my heart stop. He leaned in towards me and whispered in my ear, "I iknow/i I won."

About ten minutes later, after we showered and checked to make sure everyone was still asleep, we were cleaning up the kitchen which was almost as messy as we were. I felt myself laughing a lot.

"If Mom were awake, she would skin us alive." I laughed.

"Yeah, but Max would get to me first, and there'd be nothing left to skin." He pointed out. I laughed again.

We finished up our work in the kitchen, and I collapsed onto the couch in the living room. Iggy turned on the TV, though he couldn't watch it.

"Ella, why are you so secretive lately?' Ig asked suddenly.

Uh-oh. Time to run. I was about to get up, but Iggy grabbed my wrist, predicting my move before it happened.

"Please don't run Ells." He pleaded.

"I-" I couldn't talk. I couldn't breathe. In fact there are probably a lot of things I couldn't do right about then.

"Ells, just answer my question. Please." Iggy asked, looking straight at me. He knew me too well. And I hated him for that. But I also loved him for it. No, I ihated/i him. There's no room for love here.

"Eh, just thinkin' about college." I said, blowing it off as if it were nothing.

"Uh, Ells, you're fifteen. Try telling me the truth."

Oh boy. I felt like I was going to puke my words out.

"Ig, I-"


	3. Questions

Ella's POV

I was feeling a lot of things right now. Scared, alone, out of place, shocked. But most frighteningly of all, I was feeling a weird sense to tell Iggy the truth.  
I shook my head. There was no way I could do that. Not if I wanted everything to go as planned today.  
"You?" Iggy pushed.  
"I- erm, I-I can't tell you." I had to choose my words carefully.  
"You can tell me anything. Do you not want to tell me?" He asked, worry clouding his features.  
"No. I don't. I can't." I leapt up from the couch, breaking his grip on my wrist. I ran all the way out to my school, where I pulled out my cell phone.  
I dialed a number and the phone rang.  
"Ella. How's my favorite agent?" A familiar, but scary voice answered.  
"Fine. Subject 03 is figuring me out. I need some back up."  
"Oh Ella. Remember our little deal. Remember, normal, is _good_." The voice whispered soothingly.  
"Normal is good." I repeated, nodding, "Normal is good."  
I flicked my tail out for a millisecond before carefully tucking it back against my back again.  
"Yes Ella. You'll do fine, and you remember what happens if you fail. Subjects 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, and 06 are in your way of being _normal_ Ella. And they get glory for it." His voice was menacingly smooth.  
"Thanks for reminding me Dad, I'll remember." I clicked the phone shut as I started back towards the house, with a new plan.

That is, until I heard the wing beats.

"Ella!"  
It was Iggy, of course.  
I sighed, which I knew he would hear. He landed and ran over to me, feeling the vibrations of my footsteps.  
"Ella." He said quietly, hugging me from behind. I froze, my breath caught in my chest.  
"Ells, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pressure you." Iggy explained, still holding me from behind, but turning me towards him.  
I struggled, the result? Me pressed against his chest. This was enough to make me stop breathing for at least a minute.  
My mind was completely short circuited. You might as well have stored nuts in my brain at the time. Every bit of me was on hyper-alert as I felt his arms lower themselves from my upper back to my waist, making a small rubbing motion. I could have stayed there forever with how content I was.  
I pulled myself out of his arms reluctantly. I looked at his face which held, surprisingly, no regret, mock, or accusations.  
"It's okay." I mumbled.  
"I'm really sorry though. I feel bad."  
"If you must know, it has something to do with my dad." I answered truthfully. My dad was a piece of the puzzle that even I was still trying to put together.  
**Good luck with that** I told myself.  
I took a deep breath. "Your dad?" He asked, surprised.  
"Yes, my dad." I answered, closing my eyes and trying to make up some sort of sob story that wasn't my own.  
"Ah… mine wanted me to be some sort of side show at the circus." I heard him laugh bitterly and opened my eyes.  
"My mom too." He was almost mumbling to himself and I felt bad for him.  
_No!_ I mentally corrected myself, _ I don't feel one bit of grief for him! He's the reason I'm in this mess!_  
I sighed and mustered up some fake sympathy. "That sucks."  
Ha laughed, less bitterly this time, "Yeah, it kind of does. Good thing I have Max." He moved his eyes upward.  
_Not for long._ I thought.


	4. Wake up call

Ella's POV

"So," Iggy started, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded, trying to reassure myself with the same level of effort I was with him.

He peered at me from under his bangs. He looked iso dang cute/i! I shook myself mentally. I did inot/i just think that!

Suddenly, there was a blasting pain in the back of my skull. Fire exploded into my eye sight. It was burning behind my eyes. I heard a whimper. It took a minute to realize it came from me.

I closed my eyes and waited for the pain to stop. I remembered Max telling me about something like this she had to deal with. It couldn't have been as bad as this. I felt like my head wasn't even there anymore.

I waited silently, letting out only a few whimpers of pain, as the pain slowly eased away. I waited another two minutes before I opened my eyes, just in case something else happened. Finally, my eyes fluttered open.

The first thing I noticed was that I was in my bed, a glass of water on my bedside table. Next to the glass were headache pills. I blinked. How had I gotten home? I felt confused and disoriented.

I jerked my head around, making it throb, when I heard the door crack open. It was Iggy. He must have carried me all the way here, cause I sure as hell didn't get up and walk.

"You're awake." He whispered, as if any more volume would hurt me. He was probably right.

"Yeah." I was still whimpering, to my horror.

Something was still bugging me. "Iggy, did you carry me all the way here?" I asked quietly, still a slight whimper in my voice. A note of vulnerability.

"Yeah." He answered, "Are you feeling any better?"

"MmmHmm, big improvement." I took two pills and downed my water.

He smiled, gently pushing the hair out of my face. "Good." He was still whispering.

"Wasn't I heavy?" I asked.

"Not really. After a while, sure, but it wasn't bad. Just a few bruises." He answered nonchalantly.

"_Bruises_?" I asked, somewhat dismayed.

"Yeah. You have a strong grip." He chuckled.

"Show me." I muttered.

He rolled up both sleeves. My eyes widened as I looked at the big masses of blue, purple and green.

"Oh Ig." I let my voice trail off. I don't know why I cared.

"It's nothing." He reassured me quickly, they probably just _look_ bad, that's all." He shrugged, and winced.

"MmmHmm, not that bad. You can't move your shoulders without being in pain." I said, concerned. _Real_ concern. For a _flock member_. What the hell am I thinking? This can't be happening!

"It's fine really. You were in more pain. I had to get you home." He said, looking at my bedspread with sudden interest.

"Remind me to get you a cell phone." I muttered.

"What would that have done?" He asked.

"Hello, calling home for help. Or 911." I said with my 'duh' voice.

"Mmm, right." He mumbled. He was hiding something. Something big. I just had to figure out what. It could be a threat to my mission.

Little did I know, it was a bigger threat than anyone would have imagined possible. And I was stuck with the same threat towards him as well.

"So," I asked, trying not to be too obvious, "What's on your mind right now?"

"Things." Damn.

"What kind of things?" I smiling, pretending to care. Or was I pretending…?

"Oh, just today in general." He said in a bored tone.

"Oh." That was no help at all.

"What about you?" He asked. Damn!

"Oh, same here." I said nonchalantly.

He nodded. "Headache gone yet?" He asked, concerned.

"Yeah. Hey Ig, if you don't mind me asking, how did you lose your sight?" I asked innocently, to change the subject. I already knew this story by heart.

His face clouded. "Erm.. not something I'm fond of remembering…" He started, "Basically, the white coats wanted to see if they could change my vision. They really didn't care how much pain it put me in or if they failed. I was just an experiment. No smarter than a dog."

I flinched. The others who told me this story might have left out those details… Iggy's head jerked up at the movement.

"It's okay…" He began again, "They operated using painful tools. It felt like they were trying to stab my eye out with a pencil. For all I know they iwere/i using a pencil… Bottom line is, I was in a lot of pain. I eventually went unconscious. When I woke up, I couldn't see anything."

"Oh." I mumbled. The others didn't explain it like that…

"Yeah.. but, hey, it's alright."

I nodded. "What was the last thing you remember seeing?" I asked, thinking I couldn't feel anymore guilt than I was.

He was whispering now. "I saw the flock. All of them looked terrified. Except for Fang of course. Angel, Gazzy and Nudge crying…" His voice trailed off.

Dang it. How could I feel worse?

"But it's okay… no big deal… at least I can remember what it was like to see…" His jaw was tight.

He just succeeded in making me feel worse than I was. I think I hit rock bottom… I bit my lip, wanting to say something.

I said nothing. He shrugged. "Oh well… that sucked."

I giggled a bit, but my heart wasn't in it. He could tell. My jaw clenched. How did he know me so dang well?!

"Hey, it's okay.." He leaned over and kissed my cheek before walking out of the room.


	5. First kiss

Ella's POV

Oh my God. I squeezed my eyes shut. My heart was fluttering erratically. My head must have been close to exploding. One simple kiss on the cheek, and I was frozen on my bed. Sitting bolt up, eyes bugging out, and my mind in a wild disarray.

This could not be happening. I can't let it happen. Why is it happening? I wouldn't let myself think it, but no matter how hard I tried, the words kept floating to the front of my head. Like that game where someone says, 'Don't think about red'. And you try not to.

**You love him.** A voice said in the back of my head. That was _not_ what I was thinking.

"What th_"

**That's right Ella, I am your voice.**

_Why are you in my head? Are you from Max's head?_

**No, I'm here because you need me here for the time being.** It countered.

I growled. It was as annoying as Max had said. I already couldn't stand it. I wanted it out of my head now.

_Leave._ I snarled through my mind.

**You love him**. It repeated.

_I do not._ I _really_ hated this thing.

I waited for it to argue, but it didn't say anything else. Well, what an eventful day. I was hungry after this long frustrating day.

As if it weren't ironic enough, Iggy called, "Dinner's ready!"

I was the first one down the steps and at the table, wolfing down my food. Iggy laughed. I glanced up.

"Someone hungry?" He asked.

I just nodded, then remembered he was blind. I mumbled around my food, "Yes." Though it came out more like, "Yesh."

He laughed again. By the time everyone was downstairs eating, I was eating seconds!

They all gaped at me when Iggy told them this. I just smiled and shrugged, trying to sink down in my chair unnoticed and yet shovel food in my mouth at the same time. It was difficult, but I pulled it off.

After dinner I went up to room to listen to music. I was about to put the headphones on when I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in." I said quietly.

It was Iggy-of course- carrying a batch on chocolate chip cookies. He was grinning. So was I.

"I saved some from Max's clutches." He chuckled.

"How?" I asked, truly surprised.

"I didn't tell her there were more in the kitchen." He replied.

I couldn't help it, I laughed. "I thought I'd bring them up." He said, "Want one?" He sat down on my bed, offering me a cookie. He was munching on one himself.

I took one, still grinning. After my first bite I knew right then that no one in the world could have made a better batch of cookies.

I quickly devoured the whole batch. They were every bit as delicious as the first one had been. I smiled to myself, feeling full.

"Wow. You could beat Max's record if you tried." Iggy said, astonished.

"Probably." I agreed, bobbing me head.

He smiled warmly at me. He scooted a bit closer to me and I obliged by scooting over to share my bed. He looked down at me. He was, after all, a good foot taller than me.

It was then that I realized we were just sitting there staring at each other, grinning. And that we had been getting subconsciously closer. I felt my breath hitch in my throat. My smile was fading a bit. I was terrified.

He seemed to be a bit nervous as well. He continued leaning gradually until our lips locked on one another's.


	6. 4 days

Ella's POV

I closed my eyes and kissed back. His arms went around my waist while I slipped mine around his neck.

When we broke apart, I finally got some common sense. My first initial thought would have to be, 'Crap.'

I just broke so many rules I'd given myself right then, it was ridiculous. I inwardly groaned but my heart melted upon looking at his face. I was going to have to get myself under control.

**You love him** The voice cackled in the back of my head, **just like I said.**

I sighed. _I know_. I thought vaguely._ I know _

"Is something wrong?" Iggy asked nervously, not meeting my gaze. He looked guilty, ashamed, cute, hot….

I stopped myself. "No, I was just… thinking, you?" I changed the subject from me to him quickly.

"Not really. You were just a million miles away… made me feel a little nervous…" He shut up abruptly.

I couldn't help but smile. "I liked it." I answered truthfully.

He grinned too. "I did too…" He leaned forward and kissed me again, with more passion this time. I was about to push him away when my 'voice' spoke.

**You should let yourself have fun while it lasts.** It said.

I thought a minute before deciding it was actually right. I should let myself enjoy this. I really should. I loved this feeling.

Then came the other side of my brain attacking the happy side. Why let yourself get attached? _Why set yourself up for so much hurt that_ _could be caused?_ It said.

_Because once this is all over, then I'll be able to have this all the time, just not with the same person necessarily._ The other side fought back.

I could almost see this unknown voice contemplating each side of my head. Then it spoke carefully, **But as I said before, Ella, you love him. You'll only feel this with him.**

_No._ Both sides snarled, not liking the voice getting a say in the matter, _I do not love him._ I told myself firmly.

**You admitted it a few minutes ago…** I cut the voice off.

_I wasn't thinking clearly._ I countered quickly.

I then focused my attention to what was actually happening. I was still kissing Iggy. And it still felt good. I pulled away slowly, not realizing it, but smiling. He was grinning too.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." I answered, telling myself it wasn't true.

Though I knew that I couldn't get out off what was happening next week. It would change everything forever…

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up the next morning to the feeling of someone watching me. I peeked through my eyelashes to see Max. She was looking at me trying to fight back laughter. It took me a minute to see why. I had fallen asleep in Iggy's arms.

I opened my eyes completely and sat up, glaring at her. She giggled a bit behind her hand when she saw my expression.

"Why are you in here?" I asked.

"Because I was supposed to wake Iggy up and when I couldn't find him, I looked in here." She was still fighting laughter.

"So what are you laughing at?" I asked, though I already knew.

"You and Ig. I never knew you felt that way about each other…." She burst out laughing finally and caused Iggy to wake up with a jolt.

"Wha-!" Was the first thing out of his mouth as he struggled to find out what was on top of him- me.

"Morning Ig." Max greeted, still giggling a bit.

"Max…?" He looked disoriented.

"Yeah, I looked for you in your room and when I couldn't find you I came in here.. and this is what I found."

Iggy put his hand on my shoulder and recognition dawned on him. "Oh." Was all he replied though.

I rolled my eyes, but smiled a bit. Max left saying something about breakfast when I remembered last night. My smile dropped. My body tensed.

"Ella?" Iggy asked, raising his eyebrows.

He had felt my body muscles get tighter. "Mmm?" I asked, trying to be nonchalant, though I knew it wouldn't work.

"You okay?" He asked, he looked concerned.

"Uh, yeah… just distracted."

This seemed to confuse him more. Well, I really couldn't explain without hurting his feelings or explaining my whole plan.

My cell phone rang and I rushed to answer it before Iggy could. There were only two people who ever called me on it. Iggy and my Dad.

I answered and turned the volume on low so Iggy couldn't eves drop. "Hey." I greeted.

"Hello Ella. How's my top cat?" He said.

"Isn't the term top 'dog'" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Not in your case Kit Cat." He laughed. I saw Iggy cock his head out of the corner of my eye. He could hear me and my dad. He was also confused.

"Hey, um, someone's here with me right now. Can we discuss ithis/i later?" I asked, tipping him off.

"No problem Kit Cat." He replied easily.

"Well, I'll get back to you." I said before hanging up.

"Wait." He said, "Your 'project' is 'due' three days early Cat."

"What?" I hissed.

"Exactly what I said."

"Sure, fine." I said hanging up.

This leaves four days.


	7. I'm sorry

Ella's POV

I sat back down on the bed and Iggy pulled me into his arms. Subconsciously, I leaned against him, feeling perfectly comfortable.

"What was that about?" He asked.

"It was my Dad. Don't tell Mom." I pleaded.

"I won't, but what did he want that made you so upset?" He looked a bit concerned. My breath caught in my throat.

"Um-I nothing." I said quickly, "Just a reminder about a project for school."

This seemed to confuse him. I nearly hit myself in the forehead when I remembered I had all my classes with him at school.

"It's extra credit." I sad, taking a wild leap to cover up the truth.

Comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh." He mumbled. He grinned all of the sudden. It nearly knocked the wind out of me how perfect it looked on his face with the rest of his perfect features.

"It's Saturday." He said, still grinning that breath taking grin, "What do you want to do?"

It took me a minute to refocus on his question. "Oh, I uh, how about….. ice skating?" I mentally slapped myself as I remembered it was the one thing I icouldn't/i do.

"Sure." He said easily, "They're half price on week ends."

I couldn't help but smile at the thought of going anywhere with him now. It just felt to perfect as we got in the car to drive to the skating rink.

Once we got there and had our skates on, I stood at the edge of the rink. I looked at it as if it were my death penalty.

"What's wrong?" Iggy asked.

"I, um, I can't ice skate." I stuttered, feeling like a fool.

His face lit up again, making my heart flutter. "I can teach you." He said, grabbing my hand.

He slowly let go of me saying, "Now just push forward with one foot, then the other. I did as I was told, moving slowly.

Then I felt my feet slide out from under me and I closed my eyes, awaiting the hit. This was really gonna hurt my tail. But it never came. I slowly opened my eyes to see Iggy holding me up.

He was smiling gently. "You moved one foot twice." He said simply.

"Whoops." I muttered.

After we drove home and had dinner, I went back up to my room. As I laid on my bed, I couldn't help but let my mind wander to Iggy.

Why was it that every time he smiled, my heart leapt? How come whenever I was with him, he was the only one there? And iwhy why why/i did I always want to be with him?

I sighed, turning out my light. It was going to be a weird morning if tomorrow was as good as it was today.

I tried as hard as I could to fall asleep. I tossed and turned and got tangled in my blankets. I rolled over for the billionth time to see big red numbers from my digital clock blinking 12:00 a.m.

I got up to go get a bedtime snack, but found myself knocking on Iggy's door instead. The door opened to reveal a tired Iggy.

"Ella?" He asked, looking surprised, "You alright?"

"Um, yeah." I muttered, feeling embarrassed now, "I-I can't sleep…" I was mumbling by the end of the sentence.

Iggy held the door open for me and I walked in. I took in the smell. I smelled really good. It smelled like Iggy. I laid down on his bed, wondering what I would say to him when he asked why I couldn't sleep.

But he didn't ask. He laid down next to me and pulled me into his arms. I felt myself drifting to sleep very quickly, not a thought in my mind.

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I awoke the next morning without Max having to do it for me. I peeked through my eyes a bit, still tired. I opened my eyes wider when I realized I wasn't in my room. It took me a second to take in my surroundings. The smell was the first thing I noticed, then I actually looked around.

There were clothes lying all over the place and tons of CDs everywhere. There was a soda can on the desk that was littered with candy wrappers. I was in Iggy's room, no doubt about it.

I felt Iggy stir beneath me and I smiled. Got up carefully and the smile wiped itself from my face. I had to prepare today.

I snuck down into the kitchen and took out the box I'd been hiding for some time in the cabinet. I opened it and placed all the traps where I needed them. I grimaced. These were not avian friendly traps. In fact, they weren't friendly at anything biotic.

I walked out into the yard and climbed up a tree quickly, waiting for the signal that would set everything off.

As I waited, I let my mind drift. I wondered what I would do after all this was over. I wondered what would happen to the rest of the school. I wondered what I would do without the flock. I wondered what I would do without Iggy.

I felt my stomach drop at the thought of the flock being exterminated in the next forty eight hours. My heart was shredded when I remembered Iggy was part of the flock.

I was about to go back to sleep when I heard the signal, loud and piercing, Max's scream. Next I heard a bunch of feet running down the steps to help her. Show time.

I heard the rest of the traps going off and a cars screeched to a halt outside the house. By the time I got in, Anne, My Dad and The director were already there, with a bunch of people to help them carry off the flock.

The flock were already in their separate cages, and they all turned to look at me. Max's eye was swollen and bleeding. Nudge was battered up along with Angel. Gazzy had a black eye, Fang had a bloody nose. I could hardly bare to look at Iggy. He had a long, jagged cut from his temple to his neck.

"Good work Kit Cat." My Dad said, "Now we finally have them."

"Ella?" Max asked, her eyes wide.

I snarled. "What?" I wasn't snarling at her, but my Dad, which surprised me. It was then I realized, I didn't want this. I didn't want to do any of this.

I let my tail flick out and I morphed myself cat form. I was like an eraser, except cat form, and more deadly.

I saw surprise form on every on of the flock's faces aside from Iggy's. He was looking at me, his mouth wide open.

"Ella. What did you do?" He whispered.

"YOU HAVE A TAIL!" Nudge shrieked.

"Ah, yes." The director started explaining, "remember our the one you called 'Spot' on our little tour of the institute? This is her modified version. And she just tricked you all." The director laughed.

"Ella…" Iggy whispered.

"Ig, I swear, I don't want-"

Anne cut me off, "We need to get you along to the laboratories."

I gave Iggy one final look and whispered just loud enough for him to hear, "Iggy, I'm sorry."


	8. Caged

Ella's POV

As we drove to the airport that would take us to California, I asked my Dad, "When am I going to get the operation that changes me back to normal?"

He looked guilty, "Oh… dear, I was hoping we could run some more tests before the operation…"

I felt like I'd been punched in the gut, but I said, "Fine."

I couldn't stop thinking about Iggy. It was bad enough that I wasn't getting my operation, but I'd hurt him for nothing. I felt like crying, but stayed perfectly composed in front of my Dad.

At the airport, we boarded a private jet. I got onto the plane early so I wouldn't have to watch them wheel the cages containing the flock into the back of the plane. I was scared about how I would react to seeing them again.

During the whole plane ride, I just looked out my window or at the seat beside me, which was empty. It was supposed to have my Dad in it, but early I the flight, he said he 'had work to do'.

After the flight we took a limo to the school. As I entered the building, I was met by the overwhelming smell of cleaner. I hated that smell, I knew it too well. Memories flashed through my mind. Painful memories.

My Dad walked over to me briskly, introducing me to a scientist who worked there. He let the scientist lead me into a room that held the experiments.

I saw four cages. One held Angel and Total, another Max and Nudge, the next was Fang and The Gasman, and lastly there was Iggy.

I scientist led me up to Iggy's cage. "You'll be sharing with experiment 3 because we need the other cages for other experiments." He explained shortly.

Once I was locked in the cage, and the scientist was gone, I curled up in a corner, not daring to look at Iggy.

"What are you doing here?" Max snarled from two cages over.

I flinched and muttered, "Being my Dad's test dummy again."

"What was that?" She asked.

"Being tested on." I replied, covering up what I'd really said.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Iggy perk his ears, an indication that said he'd heard what I'd really said.

"Oh, why is that? Aren't you Daddy's little spy?" She sneered.

"No." I answered, short and simple.

She seemed a bit taken aback by this. "Well, then, why are you here?'

"I told you, to be experimented on." I was close to snapping, I felt my voice waver. I saw Iggy look up at me, a searching look on his face.

Max was about to make some other smart comment when another scientist came in. He strolled right up to my cage and opened my door.

Max and the others watched, eyes wide, as I stepped out willingly and swallowed the experimental 'medicine' he'd given me without hesitation.

Afterwards, I went back into the cage before he'd even told me to and watched him close and lock its bolt.

Max gave me a weird look then said, "Do you know what that stuff is?"

I shook my head, "Probably something designed to see if it'll make me sick. You know, testing how strong my immune system is."

I saw Nudge's, Angel's, and Gazzy's jaws drop. I shrugged, looking away. I glanced at Iggy for the first time. He was looking at me I amazement.

"And you know you could be ipoisoned/i?" Max pushed.

"Absolutely." I nodded.

Iggy spoke up, "How many times have you been here?"

"Every summer." I replied easily, then added, "And I'm really sorry for getting you in here…"

"A little late for that." Max snorted, "And I'm not forgiving you."

"I never expected you to. I only agreed to do it for two reasons. One: My Dad taught me to hate you guys, which failed after I got to know you, and two: My Dad promised that he would give me an operation to change me back to normal."

"No flattery, please. I don't buy it. And if that's so, why are you here?" Max was getting nastier.

"Because he lied." I whispered, "Again."

Iggy's head shot up. "Again?"

"Yeah… he's promised me every summer for the past four years." I said, trying to act like I didn't care, but the crack in my voice gave me away.

Before anyone could say anything else, three erasers came in, and started to move all of the flock's cages except mine and Iggy's.

I watched carefully as they were wheeled away.

Anne's POV

"Now John, you know I want to see how the two act alone. Their behavior around each other is simply fascinating!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, I know, but my daughter's expecting me to give her that surgery…" John said, hesitant to try my experiment.

"What's another lie in the long run?" I asked, indicating experiment 3 and 31.

"Well, Ella and this experiment may not get along anymore now that she's betrayed him! She could be hurt!"

"Yes, but experiment 3 has a very caring nature. I highly doubt he'll harm her." I reassured him.

He sighed in defeat. "Fine."


	9. After

Ella's POV

I looked down the second the disappeared through the door. I wasn't about to acknowledge the fact that I was alone with Iggy in a cage.

"What just happened?" Iggy asked, panic evident in his voice.

"They took them to a different room." I said, refusing to peek at his expression, which I was sure would make me feel worse than I already did. I had a headache. It wasn't one of those normal headaches that you ignore, I felt like I was going to puke. My stomach was sloshing back and forth and I felt extremely dizzy.

"What do you think they-" Iggy cut himself off as I moaned and laid down. I was feeling terrible.

"Are you okay…?" He asked slowly.

I was about to answer 'yes', but found myself shaking my head. "No." I managed out weakly. I realized this might be a side effect from the weird goop they'd given me earlier. The thought flew through my head and went straight to the back of my mind as I sat up, my stomach heaving.

I felt someone come from behind me as I threw up, and they held my hair away from my face. I was grateful, but I didn't have much time to say anything in between heaves.

After I was finished, I moaned and fell asleep as soon as my head hit something soft and warm.

I woke up, my head throbbing a bit, but not too bad. I felt my head on the same soft thing it had fallen on last night. iIggy/i

He was already awake and felt me stir slightly. He looked down at me with worry in his eyes, worry that made me feel guilty.

"Are you feeling any better?" He asked, quietly, as though his words would hurt me.

I groaned a bit and nodded. The relief was clear on his face. I smiled a bit, glad to see he wasn't frowning at the moment.

"Iggy, thank you. So much. You didn't have to be so nice…. And I'm really sorry you have to be here." I was rambling a bit, but I managed the apology without making a total fool of myself.

"Ella…" He sounded a bit unsure.

"I'm really sorry. I love you. Whether or not you love me back." The thought pained me, but it was entirely possible.

He looked up at me quickly. "I love you too. But I can't trust you. Not after this. Sorry." He looked almost as pained as I felt.

"No need to apologize." I said quickly.

"But I iam/i upset." His voice was cold as ice and hard as steel.

I looked away. I felt something I didn't expect to feel come through me. Anger. It wrapped around me like a snake coiling around it's prey.

"You don't understand." I snapped, my tone matching his. A perfect amount of ice and steel.

He seemed a bit shocked by my voice change. His eyes were widening as if someone were stretching them. Then he seemed to get as infuriated as I did.

"Well at least I didn't betray you and your family! iMy own/i family!" He sad bitterly, "I wouldn't even think about it."

I made my voice as sharp, clear and hostile as I could. "You iaren't/i my family." I hissed.

His jaw popped open, so I knew my words had had the effect I'd wanted. I instantly felt bad, but I wasn't about to show it.

He closed his jaw then his eyes, as if trying to remember a funny joke he'd forgotten. But I knew he was trying to think. His eyes opened slowly and he pushed himself toward me a little.

I did nothing. Not a sound, not a moving at all. He brought his hand carefully up to my face. I kept my face rock solid. He wasn't going to get the satisfaction of knowing how much of an impact his words had had on me.

Then he said something I wasn't expecting. "I'm sorry."


	10. The reward

Anne's POV

"Amazing, simply amazing." I muttered, surveying the whole scene.

John stood beside me and said, "I wonder what he said to make her so angry…" He sounded worried.

"Oh, it's nothing. Look, she's already over it." I comforted him with false sympathy. "Besides, I'm sure she knows this is a test. It's what we prepare her for."

"I suppose you're right." He sighed.

"I always am," I grinned, "I always am."

Ella's POV

"I-Wha-?" I was at a loss for words. I couldn't get one coherent thought out of my head, let alone my mouth.

"I'm sorry." He repeated, pulling me into a hug. It was then that I realized I was crying. I leaned on him and cried a bit more before I tried to orient myself.

He was still rocking me back and forth after I stopped crying, but I was still shaking. He was saying, "Shh." And "Hush."

I pulled away finally and he looked at me with a weird look on his face that I'd never seen before.

"Ella…" He trailed off, then regained his voice, "Ella, you know I care about you. You and I both know that I'm not intermediate family. But we are very close…" He lost his voice again.

"No." I whispered, "I have so many other things you don't know."

"Like what? That you have a tail? That you're half leopard?" He laughed a bit, "Anne told us that, remember?"

"Yes. But you haven't gotten to see it, have you?" I asked, waiting patiently for the right moment.

"Ella, I think you can remember that I'm-"

I cut him off, "Blind? Yes, but you do have your own way of seeing, remember?" I asked.

Understanding lit his face. "Okay." He nodded slowly.

I carefully un tucked my tail from beneath me. I scooted closer to him and put the end of it in his hand.

He looked shocked, but his hand felt it slowly. "Wow…" he breathed out. "It feels really… muscled… Almost as muscled as my wings… but it still feels fragile."

I nodded, "It's as strong as your wings are."

Just then, another scientist walked up to our cage. "Here kitty kitty kitty." She said in a baby voice.

I looked at Iggy. He looked annoyed. I looked back up at her. "Yes ma'am?" I asked politely.

"It's time for your shots." She was treating me like I was two.

"Okay." I said, moving forward towards the door of the cage.

I looked back at Iggy who looked like he couldn't decide which emotion to be: Angry or scared.

"I'll be right back Ig." I said before slipping out of the cage door.

The scientist led me into a back room and flipped on the lights. I looked around and blinked. There in the corner of the room was the flock.

Anne's POV

I watched the girl's expression carefully, looking for resentfulness or anger, but none was shown. Shock was in its place. Perfect.

It was time to get my plan moving. I knew exactly what to do now. I had to separate my partners precious Kit Kat from experiment 3.

Then, I had to hurt experiment 31-otherwise known as Ella- physically in front of experiment 3. It would be such a scientific enrichment to see his reaction. Would he be worried, angry, scared?

I'd have to wait and see.

Anne's POV

Of course, the boy's reaction wasn't all I was looking forward to seeing. I was also looking forward to seeing Ella's pain. After what she did to me, I would never forgive her.

So I would have to come up with all the details. It would have to be on one of her Dad's days off. And it would have to be soon because I couldn't wait


	11. The fixing

Ella's POV

Max hissed as I walked into the room. I winced as she sneered at me. I wasn't sure whether or not she would give me another chance like Iggy had.

"What are iyou/i doing here?" She sneered at me?

"I really don't know." I said truthfully, " I think they said something about shots though."

Max seemed surprised at my calm answer. Then the surprise wiped off her face and twisted back into her trademark sneer.

"Well aren't you so lucky that they trust you enough to take you out of your cage?" She asked in a sickly sweet voice.

I shrugged, "I don't know."

She rolled her eyes and lay back against the back wall of her cage. She smiled as the door to the lab opened.

I held my breath as the annoying scientist came up to me. "Here kittykitty." She said, motioning for me to come to her.

I heard Max stifle a laugh from behind me. I walked over to her slowly, pretending like it was all just a bad dream. I held my arm out to her and she shook her head.

"No no Kitty." She said, "This one goes right here." She indicated an area between my collar bone and my throat.

I turned around a minute to look at the rest of the flock. Max had a weird expression on her face, and the rest looked shocked and scared. I gulped and turned back to the woman.

"Are you ready Kitty?" She cooed.

I nodded, keeping up my charade of everything being a bad dream. I squeezed my eyes shut and I pretended I was back home.

Anne's POV

I walked over to experiment 3's cage.

"Hello ex-3" I greeted him.

He snarled and said, "Where's Ella?"

I sighed and pulled out a small hand held computer screen from my lab coat pocket. In it was an image of the room experiment 31 was in. Everything was being recorded from a video camera. I handed it to him.

"Keep it." I said slyly, walking away.

I went up to my office and grabbed another hand held screen from my desk. This one showed experiment 3's cage. I watched him watch experiment 31 get her special shot. I relished seeing tears roll down her face as the pain seared through her. I was also pleased to see the angry tears rolling down experiment 3's face.

I sighed, enjoying my work. I wondered what other things I could try for more revenge, and I grinned as the next plan formed in my head.

They'd never see it coming.

Ella's POV

As the needle slid into my skin, I bit back a cry of pain. It hurt more than I thought it would. And the stuff that she injected me with burned the underside of my skin. Tears gathered around the edges of my eyes before spilling over like a a river flowing over a dam.

She pulled the needle out slowly, making it as painful as possible. I couldn't hold it back any longer. I cried out, loud and clear as I sunk to my knees. The woman just smiled evilly and walked away, humming a cheerful tune under her breath.

I lay on the floor for several minutes, trying to find the strength to move. It took about thirty minutes before I could roll myself over. Every move I made sent a burning sensation pulsing through my body. I bit my lip until I tasted blood. I kept slowly turning until I was facing the flocks' cages.

I heard Nudge audibly let out her held breath. "Oh!" She whimpered, "I thought they'd killed you…"

"No." I managed to choke out, "I'm alright."

I swiveled my eyes to Max, who wasn't saying anything. She wasn't even looking at me, but instead towards her feet.

I sighed and slowly sat myself up. This was going to be a long, hard walk back to my cage.

Iggy's POV

I resisted the urge to punch the ground as I heard Ella's cries of pain. I knew from the soft thud that she had fallen to the ground. All I could do was wait and pray she was still alive.

After several long, stomach wrenching minutes, I heard her talk, softly, but she had talked. I breathed out a sigh of relief. Though by the sound of her voice, she was in great pain, I was overjoyed.

I was about to listen to se if she would say more when someone strolled up to my cage. By the sound of their footsteps, it was a man. I looked up at them, glaring.

"What do you want?" I snarled.

"Whoa, down birdie, I'm here to fix you." He said.

I felt fear bubble up inside me and heard myself whimper. The noise, and all others, sounded far away.

I vaguely heard my cage door being opened. I was vividly aware that I was being pulled out of my cage and onto a stretcher. But everything as numb, my senses shut down. I felt like I was a deer in headlights, except les aware.

The last thing I heard was, "Night night, birdie." And then, I was out.

Anne's POV

I found myself smiling down on the scene below. Ella, struggling to move and whimpering in pain and experiment 3, completely helpless to the hands of one of my best workers.

I would have to wait a good day before I could out my final plan into action though. And then, maybe Kitty would see that I really did mean business.


	12. Worse

Iggy's POV

I woke up, sore and on the bottom of what felt like my cage. I yawned and stretched. I slowly opened my eyes and my jaw dropped. I could isee/i.

Ella's POV

I groaned and opened my eyes to see Iggy. I blinked and looked around a bit more. We were in our cage. I'd made it. I sighed in relief.

I saw Iggy's gaze flicker up to me and his eyes got bigger. My relief vanished, had they done something to Iggy?

"Are you alright Iggy?" I asked, panic evident in my voice.

"I'm fine. Ella." He said, crushing me into a –literally- breath taking hug. I couldn't help but smile. I felt fine now.

"I'm okay Iggy, it's fine." I said.

"No, it's inot/i fine." He said, voice raising an octave.

"Iggy……" I replied, warning him not to make a big deal out of this. I rolled my eyes for extra effect.

"Don't roll your eyes at me." He said, a disapproving tone in his voice.

"Fine." I said sticking my tongue out at him before realizing something. "Wait, did you just see me roll my eyes…?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, I can see now. They fixed my eye sight." He smiled, a bright sunny smile that made my heart melt.

"That's great!" I said, actually happy for him. I scooted over closer to him and gave him a hug.

He just kept grinning and hugged back. Then he bent over and whispered in my ear, "I love you Ella."

I whispered, more quietly then he did, "I love you too Ig."

He looked at me for a minute before bending down and kissing me. I kissed back hard. He chuckled at my fierceness. I rolled my eyes, forgetting he could see me do it.

"No rolling your eyes." He reminded me, breaking the kiss.

I stuck my tongue out at him and he returned the favor. So I made, well, a slightly irude/i gesture. He raised his eyebrows and I grinned.

Then he muttered, "How ironic."

We went back and forth with a bunch of other childish gestures and comments before the evil scientist woman came back. I growled under my breath.

"Here kitty kitty kitty." She cooed.

I rolled my eyes and crawled out of the cage. I heard Iggy snarl behind me. I turned around and he looked absolutely ticked. I was actually afraid of him. I blinked and said, "Shh, Iggy, it's alright. I'll be fine."

He glanced at me, all the hate leaving his face to be replaced by regret and worry. "Ella…" He trailed off.

"I'll be back soon." I assured him, though I wasn't sure I would be.

Finally, he gave a hesitant nod before the evil woman dragged me into a room beside the one I'd went into last night. She turned on the light and there, sitting on a table in the middle of the room, was Anne.

Okay, I'm not one to get scared, but Anne ireally/i freaks me out. She thinks I should be exterminated after I killed her husband because I flipped out and accidentally killed him. She blames me for any mental issues she has now.

So yes, now I'm terrified because this is my Dad's day off. She can do anything and he won't know. And she could tell him it was all an accident. I sucked in a deep breath and walked forward.

"Glad you could make it." She smirked evilly and beckoned me to come closer. I reluctantly did so.

As I drew near, her hand flew out and slapped me so hard it knocked me backwards. I felt my cheeks sting where her fingernails had cut me. I could feel a look of shock come over my face and then edge away. I looked up at her, who was still grinning evilly.

"Now I can kill you." She laughed, "But that wouldn't be fun, now would it? So I'll just make you suffer and maybe, hopefully kill you on accident. How does that sound, Kitty?"

I snarled and growled. She seemed scared for a moment, but soon collected herself. "You don't scare me." She said simply ad then, things got a lot worse.


End file.
